Chalmers ties Heat record with 10 3s in romp over Kings

January 13, 2013|By Shandel Richardson, South Florida Sun Sentinel

SACRAMENTO — Just before halftime, Ray Allen rose from his seat on the Miami Heat bench and began waving a towel.

It was his way of cooling off Mario Chalmers, who had just hit a 3-pointer. It was that kind of the night. Chalmers scored a season-high 34 points Saturday in the Heat’s 128-99 victory against the Sacramento Kings, snapping a two-game losing skid. He made 10 of 13 3-pointers, tying the franchise record set by Brian Shaw against the Milwaukee Bucks April 8, 1993.

“It was definitely a pretty big performance,” Chalmers said. “It was a good game. I had good rhythm, good teamwork.”

Chalmers redeemed himself after missing an open 3-poiner at the buzzer Thursday that would have defeated the Portland Trail Blazers. He scored 13 of the Heat’s first 17 points on the way to a career night.

“It had a little bit of an effect,” Chalmers said of missing the game-winner against Portland. “I still had that in the back of my mind. Any time when I get a good look, I always want to make the shot. I just wanted to come out and try to put that behind me.”

Chalmers tied the record on a 25-footer with 3:12 remaining but never had the opportunity to break it. He didn’t attempt another shot before being pulled 20 seconds later.

“There’s still some integrity to this game,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We’re up 30 against this team here in their building. At that point, it’s not about trying to embarrass the other team and just go for a record.”

Chalmers did set the record for most 3-pointers at Sleep Train Arena, breaking the previous mark of nine set by former Heat players Mike Bibby and Antoine Walker.

“Rio had it going and we kept finding him,” forward LeBron James said. “It was great. We had it going and we kept on finding him and he kept knocking them down.”

Added guard Dwyane Wade, “When you get a guy that’s hot like that, you want to keep going to him.”

The Heat as a team shot 17 of 37 from the 3-point line, with Mike Miller going 4 of 8.

The win brought reason to cheer after the Heat dropped the first two of this six-game road trip and had lost five of eight. Even though it came at the expense of the Kings, Spoelstra said his team was simply in need of a victory.

He called the Heat “desperate” because the way it struggled in recent weeks. Relief came in the form a Kings team still reeling from blowing a 17-point, second-half lead two days ago against the Dallas Mavericks.

The Heat know the feeling.

They were coming off the loss to the Trail Blazers, where they led by 12 with less than eight minutes remaining before falling 92-90. This time, there would be no comeback. The Heat shot 56 percent in the first half to build a 66-44 lead.

“It started at practice,” Spoelstra said. “Everybody just came in with the right attitude (Friday), not to take a day off but to continue to try to build and correct some things and get over the hump to get our first win (on the trip). Nothing is easy in this league on the road and you can’t take anything for granted no matter where you play.”

The Heat led by as many as 38 in the second half playing their reserves most of the fourth quarter. It provided much needed rest for James and Wade. James finished with 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists. He tied his season-low with 29 minutes, the first time he played below 30 since the season-opener against the Boston Celtics.

Before exiting, James and Wade hooked up on the game’s signature play in the first quarter. They connected on an alley-opp, with Wade finding James for a reverse, double-clutch jam to make it 22-12.

The Kings got no closer than eight the remainder of the game.

Center Chris Bosh finished with 16 points, five assists and four rebounds while Wade had 11 points seven assists and five rebounds.